


Fox Children

by FranBunny



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Arranged Marriage, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Bottom Uchiha Sasuke, Fluff, M/M, Mpreg, Smut, Supernatural Elements, Uchiha Sasuke-centric, Wolf Children AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-13
Updated: 2018-04-13
Packaged: 2019-04-22 10:41:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14306934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FranBunny/pseuds/FranBunny
Summary: It’s been three days since he’s been gone. This wasn’t normal, his hunts never took this long. Sasuke thinks of all the possibilities, of the worst, and he honestly doesn’t know how he can do this alone. But when his son looks up to him with wide, sapphire eyes, and the child inside him flutters with movement, Sasuke knows he needs to try.





	Fox Children

**Author's Note:**

> I know I haven’t finished Storm yet, but this is a plot bunny that’s been digging through my brain for a long while now. I hope you guys like it and know that Storm will not be abandoned. It’s like having two babies, ya can’t love one more than the other and god forbid you abandon them!! Wink wink
> 
> KUDOS TO MY BETA, who’s honestly been so patient with me, TheWaterGoddess!! <3

The torrential downpour was something the radio failed to mention when the weather forecaster was droning on and on following his daily segment at seven in the morning. It’s nearing three in the afternoon and there’s nothing but the sound of booming thunder and crackling lightning above Konohagakure and its surrounding forests. The raindrops seem to be the size of pebbles, ones you would see by the riverbank, easily pick up and toss to see who skipped them the furthest. They tumble down the trees, plains, and rooftops in loud drumming sounds, like metal rods onto a metal sheet. 

The roar of rain is doing the job of hiding the sounds of feet hitting pavement and puddles splashing, wetting the bottom edges of the beautiful dark blue silk kimono Sasuke wore. It doesn’t even matter because he was drenched, the pin holding his upper back-length hair now lost. His bangs were stuck to his forehead, his lashes doing nothing to stop the rain from stinging his eyes. Where he was going, he didn’t know, but he hopes it’s somewhere a ways away from the reaches of the Uchiha land and Konohagakure itself. The thought of his fate being sealed sent pain through his lungs and limbs, making it hard to breathe. The utter betrayal of his clan elders a fresh wound in his mind and heart. When he feels pinpricks underneath his feet, he realizes he’s stepping on soil, tiny pebbles sending slight pain to the soles of his feet. 

He was out of Konohagakure now, heading for the forest he rarely came to for anything. How could he? He was busy training to be part of the police corps just like his older brother. His family had high hopes for Itachi, and in turn, he’d hoped they did for him as well. To be honest, they did, but it wasn’t to lead the corps one day, no. He was a carrier, and that only meant one thing: to breed competent children for the sick leaders of their clan. 

He was always told there was a chance, that it was prevalent within the Uchiha bloodline, but he prayed to whatever gods were up there that it wouldn’t be him. There were no developed procedures to find out if one carried this gene or not, only the signs when one became sexually mature. For Sasuke, that was three years ago, when he was sixteen. The sight of blood on his underwear and between his thighs have been shocking, and Sasuke had honestly cried his eyes out for a good week. He had begged his father, told him he wanted to follow in his footsteps, and Fugaku, bless him, had said he had high hopes for Sasuke just as he did Itachi. The problem was the elders that ruled their clan. Even his own father, the chief of police, was powerless against them. 

For the past three years, he had taken all the discouraging words, held his head up with what was only known as the Uchiha pride, trained and built himself up to par with his peers and more. During his entrance exam for police training, he not only defeated a cop a full head taller than him, but he managed to knock off his feet in the literal sense in less than five minutes. He saw the pride that radiated off of his own father’s face at that moment, but the person he defeated? Sasuke doesn’t even want to remember what happened a few days later. 

The man was a coward, but Sasuke screaming those words at him as two friends of his friends held him back, had fallen on deaf ears. They managed to undress him, but out of sheer panic and sudden strength, Sasuke slipped out from one of the friends’ hold behind him. He took all of them on, but not without bruises of his own; on his cheek right next to his lip, his arms, his back; even his scalp had burned from the way they pulled his hair. When all of them were down, he gathered whatever clothes he could in a hurry to keep his own decency, which was unfortunately only his shirt as the other articles were underneath the heavy, unconscious bodies of his supposed teammates. He ran home through the detour he knows no one passes through, and locked himself in his room, despite his mother’s request to let her in. He huddled himself on a corner by the foot of his bed, cried and shielded his ears with his hands from the voices that continued to echo through his head.

_ You bitch! You think you’re better than me? I’ll show you the only thing you’re good for. _

_ A carrier like you shouldn’t be in the corps.  _

_ Why don’t you spread your pretty legs for us and do what you’re useful for? _

When he refused to come out of his room that evening, Itachi had to use force to open the door. Sasuke was still huddled on the same corner, no longer crying, but not quite hearing either. Itachi could do nothing but hold his little brother in his arms for an unknown amount of time. For some time, it was a struggle, and Sasuke couldn’t even  _ think  _ of stepping into the academy, of seeing their faces. He never told his family their names, but he had a feeling they already knew, if Itachi beating them to a bloody pulp and getting a suspension was any indication. 

Things did get better everyday after then, but to be touched by a man was not something Sasuke had any plans for in the future, near  _ or  _ far, which leads him to today. The sole reason he was running in the midst of a storm in nothing but a formal kimono to god only knows where.

 

* * *

 

_ “Sasuke, have you finished drying yourself?” Mikoto, Sasuke’s mother, asks from her spot at his door, her hand keeping it slightly ajar, enough to see his son in the middle of the room.  _

_ “Yeah.” Was Sasuke’s only reply. He isn’t ready for today. He knows what’s at stake. His family’s reputation as well as the elders’ satisfaction were on the line, and he knows no matter how much he hates it, this is his fate.  _

_ “Oh, Sasuke.” Mikoto starts, her tone laced with sadness. “I’m so sorry.” At this point, she’s already closed the door behind her, but she stands frozen where she is. _

_ “Mom…” Sasuke can’t bring himself to say ‘it’s okay’ because it wasn’t. He is about to give his life, his whole being, to a person he does not know, and he hadn’t felt this kind of fear since he was attacked.  _

_ Before Sasuke could sink further into his thoughts, Mikoto closes the distance and takes her son’s delicate hand in hers. Sasuke’s eyes meet her own, apology glimmering in them, and a small flame of courage lights within him. He could do this. He needed to because he loved his family and he’d be damned to shame them. He offers her a small smile, a reassurance, one she quickly returns.  _

_ “Let’s get you ready.”  _

_ Sasuke puts on the expensive kimono his betrothed purchased in a foreign land or so he claims. It honestly felt no different, or better at that, than the ones Sasuke already owns. His mother helps him with his silk obi, expertly tying it into a large bow above the small of his back. She motions for him to take a seat in front of his vanity and begins to put his hair into a neat bun at the top of his head, securing it with an ornate pin his betrothed has provided as well. As his mother works with his hair, he looks and assesses himself in the mirror. He now notices the striking similarities he and his mother share; her nose, her shapely and neat eyebrows, high cheekbones, almond-shaped eyes, and blemish-free skin. Itachi’s skin was just as perfect, but other than that, he was a mini-Mikoto.  _

_ Before he could ponder any further, his mother moves on to his face, applying the traditional white powder all over and spreading it out evenly with the help of a brush. She carefully applies red tint on his lips, again evenly brushing it on until the middle portion of his upper and lower lip were covered, leaving the sides out. Mikoto brushes on red eyeshadow partly on Sasuke’s eyelids, spreading out slightly on the corners of his eyes. When she finishes, she admires her handiwork and sighs with a bit of sadness. She wished she was getting her son ready for someone who truly had his heart, and the thought brought an ache to her chest.  _

_ The sound of light knocking alerts the two. The door slides open minutely to reveal Itachi, and Sasuke knows he’s not gonna like what he’s about to hear.  _

_ “Sasuke, he’s here.” _

_ Sasuke feels dread like a lead weight in his stomach, but he manages to keep it out of his expression. Out of habit, Sasuke opens the top left drawer of his night stand and pulls out his wakizashi. It was a gift his father had given him after his assault. It’s shorter than the normal twelve inch sword, a good six inches, but this one is just as deadly. The black handle holds the Uchiha clan crest, a fine detailed work that awes Sasuke up to now. He places the weapon beneath his obi, obscured by the bow on his back, before standing from his seat and making his way out the door past Itachi, and to the living room where his future husband awaits him. His father was there, already seated, as well as two Uchiha elders, and his betrothed himself. There was an empty zabuton right next to his father he knows was waiting for him, and without physical hesitation, he makes his way over and gingerly takes his seat, legs folded underneath him. He looks to the floor just as he was taught, forbidden to look his future husband in the eyes, and feels himself being watched not only by the man himself, but everyone else. He holds his hands tighter on his lap for fear they might see them shake. _

_ “The kimono suits you.” The words make Sasuke feel filthy. He purses his lips to hide his disgust, refusing to think about what this man would do to him. _

_ Uchiha Touma was one of the wealthy members of their clan, a forty year old man who lost his wife the previous year to an unknown sickness. She was not Uchiha, nor was she able to bare him any sons to inherit his trade and fortune. Sasuke first met him when he was seventeen, two years ago, when he accompanied Fugaku to an event hosted by the man. Sasuke hadn’t known that Touma had pined for him, thus the sudden proposal when his spouse had passed. The thought of a man to even  _ think  _ about him that way made his skin crawl. Sasuke’s family is in no means poor. They have a sizable house, his father had a reputable job, hell, even he and Itachi have bright futures ahead of them. If not for the force of the elders, why even bother with this marriage?  _

_ The doors were open, giving a glorious view of their garden, and Sasuke notices the beginning patters of rain hitting their rooftop before a shower is cascading upon the land. Sasuke has always loved the rain. It never made him feel sad like other people told him nor was the scene depressing at all. To him, the rain gave peace, and at the moment, he needed it the most. He drowned out the conversation going about his betrothed, the elders, and his father. It’s all political talk he isn’t interested in, instead, he watches the garden receive the blessing heaven has bestowed.  _

_ “I’d like a word with Sasuke. Alone.” Those words draw him out of his small reverie but he doesn’t turn his head nor does he acknowledge the man.  _

_ “I refuse.” Sasuke turns to his father then, shocked at his words of plain refusal. _

_ “Fugaku,” Hotaru, one of the elders start. “You should know your place in all this.”  _

_ “I do know my place. First and foremost, I’m his father.” The words touch Sasuke’s heart, and in the heat of the moment, he thinks that he could handle this after all. _

_ “It’s okay, tou-san. I’m okay.”  _

_ Fugaku turns to Sasuke wearily before giving the elders and Touma himself a hesitant nod. Everybody leaves the room, save for Sasuke and his betrothed and his heart starts to hammer, doubting his earlier words, his bravado gone. They’re quiet for a long moment and only the sound of the pouring rain could be heard. _

_ “Sasuke, my sweet, why don’t you shut the door? The rain’s awfully loud.”  _

_ Sasuke doesn’t meet his eyes, still, as he gingerly stands and makes his way to the large doors. He slides them closed and not a second later, hands were on his waist, pulling him into a body he didn’t ever want anywhere near. Sasuke doesn’t move, but he’s quaking with fear and unsurprisingly enough, anger.  _

_ “My, you  _ do  _ make an amazing wife. I really like them submissive, you know? Too bad my late wife couldn't understand such a concept.”  _

_ Sasuke’s eyes widen at the gall of this man. Touma pushes Sasuke against the closed doors, hands roaming down to his hips, then his thighs. Sasuke thinks he might empty his stomach right then, but when the man turns him around so they’re face to face, and before Touma could molest him further, Sasuke does the unthinkable.  _

_ Sasuke pulls the blade hidden behind him in his obi, unsheathing the hand crafted weapon, and pushing it through the man’s left breast.  _

_ They lock gazes, Touma’s shocked expression to Sasuke’s unforgiving one. Sasuke’s hold on the blade was a vice grip that when Touma loses his balance and falls back to the floor with a thud, the wakizashi stays in Sasuke’s expert hand. Blood drips from the tip of the blade to the tatami floor, and as a loud sound of lightning cracks, fear courses through his body at a shocking speed; fear for his life, fear of being punished, but worse of all, fear of the shame he brought his family.  _

_ Sasuke does the only thing his instinct tells him to do:  _ run _. Wakizashi in hand, he throws the sliding doors leading to the engawa open and runs; out of their house, out of their compound, out of the village, and out of his family’s life. _

 

* * *

 

He doesn’t know how long he’s been running for, but his feet were protesting now, sending pangs of discomfort up to his calves. He allows himself a bit of rest under the protection of a large tree, the leaves above sparing him from the downpour even for only a little. He turns his head left, right, back, and then front. Something up ahead catches his attention, and after a deep breath, he wills himself to move forward. As he gets closer, the structure becomes more clear to him. It was a shrine.

Sasuke’s now very sure he’s far from Konoha because he has never been here before. He slowly walks up the short flight of stairs to the entrance of an old but sizable shrine. He looks in awe as he enters, hand running along the entrance frame as his eyes take in the interior. The floor was made of wood, cool under Sasuke’s aching and wounded feet, and he lets himself breathe for one moment before fully entering. It wasn’t an overly large structure, but the kanji on wood all around the walls were artful. He counts nine of them, and each were written with a number followed by the kanji ‘tail’. Sasuke finally understands that this shrine must be for the guardians of the forest, not unlike the ones in the stories Itachi used to tell him. Sasuke folds his hands before himself and utters a small prayer as well as pardon for intruding. 

After a moment of silence, save for the still pouring rain, Sasuke seats himself on a corner, immersing himself in his thoughts. He looks down to his hands on top of his lap and notices them shaking. In the calm of things, he recalls what had happened hours ago with painful detail; the touching, the stabbing. He tries to breathe, but a loud sob finds its way up out his throat. Tears fall onto his hands as more sobs that he tries hard to suppress rack his tired and cold body. He’s brought out of his grief by an unusual sound and Sasuke quickly looks up and to his left, hoping to hear it again. For a few moments, there was nothing but the fall of rain, but sure enough, the sound comes again,  _ louder _ . 

_ An animal…? _

With a hand to the wall, Sasuke stands with wobbly legs. He gives himself a few seconds to steady himself before walking to the entrance with a slight limp, hand coming up to wipe the last tracks of tears from his cheeks. He waits until he hears another round of the sound, determining its location despite the rain and follows as best as he can. His kimono hadn’t even dried in the slightest under the protection of the shrine, and now he was drenched once more. His hands were feeling numb due to loss of more body heat, but he fights the desire to go back and rest in the comfort of the shrine. This time, he hears the cry louder, and Sasuke can’t help but feel that whatever it was, it was calling out to him. 

He eventually finds himself surrounded by trees away from the main road. Sasuke’s eyes finally see what was making all that noise, and to his surprise, it was a fox. This fox was larger than other foxes he’d ever encountered in his life, though there weren’t that many. The creature was trying to be as still as possible as one small move could possibly send more pain up its leg from the trap it was in. The fox had cat-like eyes Sasuke assumed were red, and for a moment, their gazes are locked. In those eyes, he saw pain, but underneath, he swears he sees a plea for help. He weighs his options: if he offered it help, he could possibly get attacked, but if he left it here to die, his subconscious would never rest from such cruelty. Sasuke cursed his soft spot for animals, but it always proved to be more of a blessing than the alternative. 

Sasuke lets out a small breath before reaching back and unsheathing his still slightly blood-stained wakizashi. He carefully steps towards the fox, careful of startling it, and kneeling down beside the trap to assess it. He hears a small growl, but Sasuke didn’t think it sounded too threatening.

“I won’t hurt you. I’m only trying to help you.” 

They lock gazes once again, and it takes a few seconds of a stare down before the fox lets out a mix of a whimper and a snort and looks away. Sasuke takes this as his cue, and without any hesitation, lodges the tip of his blade between the two sides of the trap that were biting down on the fox’s leg. With a twist of his palm, the sword manages to separate both sides a little. Quickly, he forces the contraption open with his two hands, waits for the fox to pull its wounded leg away and lets go, letting the trap slam back closed. Sasuke huffs out a breath and watches as the creature rests on its side and starts licking its heavily bleeding leg. Sasuke moves to pick his wakizashi up and crawls closer to the fox, assessing its wound without touching it, as difficult as it seems.

Sasuke bites his lower lip, thinking if what he’s about to do next was a safe thing to attempt knowing this was a wild animal he was dealing with. His love for animals wins though, and not a moment later, he holds onto the bottom edge of his kimono with one hand, and with his other holding the blade, slashes the expensive material until he has a long strip of it available. He feels oddly satisfied at destroying whatever that selfish man had given him, feeling lighter than he did all day. When his hand goes to reach for the fox’s injured leg, the creature gives him a growl, glaring at him and testing him. Unfortunately for the fox, Sasuke was quickly losing his patience, and who could blame him? He was tired. He glares back, challenging the creature with an angry look of his own.

“I’m trying to help you. Don’t you dare growl at me.” 

That seems to placate the fox, and Sasuke thinks he might’ve seen its eyes go comically wider. It was strange, but if he wasn’t the way he looked, he might’ve been human, showing perfect understanding. Sasuke blames it all on fatigue. He shakes his head of the thoughts and moves closer. With the strip of the silk material, he ties a tourniquet around the leg to stop the bleeding before dabbing on the area a little, earning whimpers of pain. Sasuke’s face softens considerably and he feels the creature’s gaze on him once more. 

“You gotta be careful… People can be… So cruel.” At the end of his sentence, his voice was but a whisper, but the fox’s ears moving tells him that it’d heard him loud and clear. “Look at you listening to me. I’m out of my mind to be rambling to a forest animal.” 

The fox sniffs at the tied cloth, then its wound before testing itself to stand. The creature gives him one more look, one he returns, before limping away through the large bushes leading further into the forest. Sasuke stays until he sees no sign of the fox any longer and all he hears is nothing but the pouring rain around him. He looks up with his eyes closed, hoping the rain will wash his pain away. After a moment, he moves to stand and limp back to the safety of the shrine. He huddles himself in a sitting position in a corner once more, hugging himself to keep his body’s temperature from dropping any further. Sasuke falls asleep like that, and he honestly doesn’t know how long he sleeps for. The only thing he knows is he wakes with a terrible headache, his mind hazy with what he knows is a high grade fever. 

Since when was he lying on the floor?

He was shivering violently, holding himself tighter, whether to calm the shaking or keep himself warm, he didn’t know. It was most likely both. He could still hear the rain and the loud boom of thunder above. In that moment, Sasuke thinks that if he dies, he prays that his family won’t suffer for his wrong doings and stupid choices in life. He thinks he might’ve heard the scrape of nails against the wooden floor, so with every ounce of strength he has, he turns his head to the entrance of the shrine. He blames the haze and his grogginess, but he thinks he sees a creature on four legs come closer to him. One blink, and suddenly, a person’s feet replace the animal legs from his view. Sasuke succumbs himself to sleep, vision fading into darkness once more. 

 

* * *

 

When Sasuke comes to, he has to squint his eyes at the daylight that assaults his vision. Instinctively, he pulls the thick and warm blanket over himself to hide, to give himself just five more minutes of sleep. Three minutes later, he realizes he  _ had  _ no blanket when he fell asleep he assumes was hours ago, and quickly sits up. Sasuke immediately regrets doing so because his head starts to spin and he has to hold it in his hands, palms over his own eyes, just to quell the gruelling sensation. He hears footsteps approach the bed, the floorboards creaking under the weight of the intruder, and Sasuke’s heartbeat quickens before he’s slowly looking up. 

It isn’t the shock of blonde spiky hair or the beautiful sun kissed skin that captures Sasuke’s attention, no, it’s those eyes as blue as the oceans he’s seen only twice in his life that has him breathless. They were looking at him with such warmth, Sasuke wonders what he did to deserve such a gaze. The man offers him a radiant smile before taking a seat at the foot of the bed. Sasuke immediately brings his knees up to his chest, moving his feet away from where the man was seated. He may have been handsome, but he was still a stranger, and Sasuke has enough distrust in anyone other than his family to put himself into high alert. He now suddenly becomes painfully aware of how  _ naked  _ he was beneath the sheets, his only saving grace being the oversized shirt he wore. 

“Hey, how’re you feel—” 

“What did you do to me?” Sasuke cuts the man off, voice laced with anger and malice, hands clutching the sheets tightly.

“I helped you.” The man says simply.

“Why? Who  _ are  _ you?”

Instead of answering his questions, the man moves closer and reaches out a hand, palm resting over Sasuke’s forehead. It takes a few seconds before Sasuke’s pulling away as if the touch burned him. The man merely gives a small frown, a look of discontent, before he’s looking towards the door to the room, which was wide open. 

“The soup should be done soon.” The man looks back to him. “You must be pretty hungry. I’ll bring some in, okay?”

The man stands and was starting to walk to the direction of the door when Sasuke’s voice stops him. “Why?” 

The man looks back and gives Sasuke another one of those radiant smiles. “Because kindness should be returned with kindness.” 

Sasuke is left stunned where he’s seated on the bed while the man leaves the room to fetch him a bowl of soup. The moment alone allows him to take in the room he was in. The curtains were a rusted orange color, drawn to one side to let the natural light in. There was a dresser for clothing on the corner opposite to the bed, and the bed itself was comfortable but could really only fit one person. There was a small table by the bed holding an upturned saucer with a candle stuck to it, a box of matches, and a glass full of water. He looks around the room and notices there were no sockets or the like anywhere. He assumes this must be the man’s bedroom.

Next, Sasuke assesses himself. He examines his wrists, his arms, finding no sign of force or pressure applied to the easily bruising areas. There was a slight pain in the joints of his knees and elbows, but the lack thereof where it mattered relieved him. The most painful part of all were his feet, and he gingerly moves the blanket aside, revealing welts and healing wounds at his soles. His calves were aching, and he doubted he could stand at the moment, but he decides he would run when he needed to, pain be damned. When he hears the floors creak, signalling his companion’s return, he quickly covers himself back up with the blanket and puts his hands over his lap. 

The man approaches the bedside table and carefully moves the candle and matchbox aside to make room for the hot bowl of soup. Sasuke takes the smell in and notes how delicious it not only looked, but the way it tickled at his hunger through his nose made his mouth water. When he looks up to the man, he’s merely given a wide smile before the other is pulling a chair towards the side of the bed. The man takes a seat and next, the bowl of soup into his hands.

“Let me feed you.”

Sasuke feels a slight heat burn his cheeks and quickly ducks his head down to hide his embarrassment. “I think I’ll be fine, thank you.”

Sasuke doesn’t see the small frown that adorns the man’s features once again, but he does take the bowl when it’s handed to him with care. Sasuke takes hold of the spoon and brings it up to his lips to take a sip of the broth. His eyes widen at how savory it was. The broth was clear, but there was the meat of some kind of fatty fish in it as well as green onion stalks and largely sliced tomatoes. Sasuke has never had this kind of cooking before, but somehow he feels like he’s home. Emotions hit him like a train and he doesn’t realize he’s crying until the broth of the soup ripples and his vision starts to blur. He looks up to see the man looking at him like he  _ knows  _ what he’s been through, like he understands, and a tanned hand reaches out to wipe the tears streaming down his face. Sasuke looks into those blue eyes for what feels like a millennia before looking back down to the bowl of soup in his hands.

“Do you remember anything from last night?” 

Sasuke doesn’t look up, but he racks his brain for an answer. “I… I remember running… Then… There was this fox I helped out of a trap… And I fell asleep in a shrine.” 

The man hums and nods his head.

“Where am I?”

“You’re a little bit up the mountain from that shrine. I found you there all drenched in rain and stuff. You had a fever, too, and I thought maybe you needed a warm place to be.” The man says, scratching his unusually scarred cheek. There were sets of three lines on both his cheeks making it seem like he had whiskers.

“I see… Thank you. I certainly won’t trouble you any longer than I already have. I’ll leave by sunset.”

“You won’t do such a thing in your condition. These mountains are dangerous. I promise I’ll take you to the nearest town once you’re better.” 

Sasuke thinks about his options for a moment. Staying with a complete stranger should’ve resulted in an immediate refusal, but then again, the man has shown and  _ is  _ showing nothing but kindness to him. He was also right about him not being in a condition to travel such a long ways away, and to have someone who knows these mountains guide him to a nearby town would be a plus in itself. Sasuke makes the obvious decision.

“Alright. Please pardon my intrusion.”

The man gives him yet another bright smile, and Sasuke’s sure he’s never met a man who smiled as much as this one. 

“You aren’t intruding. Remember what I said? A kindness for a kindness.” The man stands from his seat and heads for the door.

“You said that, yes, but what exactly do you mean? I haven’t done anything for you.” 

The man looks back, giving Sasuke another one of his warm looks. “You’ll find out soon enough. I’m Naruto, by the way.”

“Oh… I’m… Sasuke.”

“That’s a beautiful name.” Sasuke looks down to his bowl of soup once again, feeling the slightest rush of heat back on his cheeks. “Sasuke, I’ll go and hunt dinner for a while, so stay, okay?” 

When Sasuke nods, the man named Naruto leaves the house quietly, leaving Sasuke alone to his thoughts once more. He supposes things were going to be okay. He was lucky such a kind stranger chose to help him, and he can’t help but think that his prayers are being answered if a little, despite what he’s done to his family. He can’t help but think that there’s a god watching over him.


End file.
